


Tim Tries To Figure Out Damian’s Emotions and it Backfires

by dysphoriccanada



Series: Crowded Caves, Family Faves [7]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Bat Family, Batfamily Feels, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other, RIP, ROLL W THE SHIT I SPOUT, Tim drake needs a hug, U SIGNED UP FOR MY BULLSHIT, damian wayne is shadow, dont yell at me in the comments you KNEW this was gonna happen, listen.... you know whos outtie ok, tim drake is a stalker but its a joke, tim drake is kid bat, tim has... feelings, you singed up for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 15:00:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16199918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dysphoriccanada/pseuds/dysphoriccanada
Summary: Tim Drake-Wayne just wants to get close to his brother, and it works out great. As much as Damian continues to have issues with Bruce's 'need for child-soldiers' thing, he admits that taking in the boy was a saving grace.But fate is a trick-ass bitch, and Damian is left in its wake.





	Tim Tries To Figure Out Damian’s Emotions and it Backfires

**Author's Note:**

> lmao im SORRY
> 
> \---
> 
> rated mature for the murking of a child lol

Tim had been Kid Bat for roughly two months when Damian had finally came back to the manor, even if it was only for one meal. That was a year ago. The older teen had basically successfully avoided his entire family for roughly a year, not including the major holidays and birthdays when he stopped in for dinner. 

While Damian had left, Tim had moved in. He wasn’t completely integrated into the family, not even legally Bruce’s ward, but seeing as his parents were only home three days a month, it was easier to just stay at Wayne manor. 

Harper of course loved this. Finally someone around her age, someone she could share a bond with like Helena and Terry. Her and Tim were ‘thick as thieves’ according to Selina, which led to the whole ‘never be thieves, that’s my thing in this family’ conversation.

Tim as Kid Bat, and Harper as Blue Bird, was exactly the dynamic duo that Batman needed. It was different than when his eldest children had patrolled with him, he found. With Terry and Helena, he was more guarded. He couldn’t trust them jumping two buildings ahead of him, let alone stop crime. But with Kid Bat and Blue Bird, it was like being with friends, in a way. They weren’t exactly his children, he didn’t quite have that same bond with them. But they weren’t not his children, and he would find pride and joy in their little game.

The best part of being Kid Bat, Tim found, was all of the friends that he and Harper made. They met most of them through Batman, but there was no denying that if they were ever up for it, there was a large enough group of kids to start their own team. Wonder Girl, the second Superboy, Impulse, Arrowette, Secret.. He didn’t know if he ever would, but Tim and Harper agreed that it was nice knowing there were others like them.

Eventually, Tim’s sixteenth birthday rolled around, and the private celebration at Wayne Manor was more than fantastic. The entire family, members of the League, and a few of Tim and Harper’s friends were all in attendance. Damian even showed up. He still acted like he hated the very idea of Tim, but the younger boy knew that in his own way, Damian probably cared. It was just his twisted, emotionally constipated, way. The topic was still touchy for Damian, and he’d yet to forgive Bruce at all.

Tim, noticing that Damian was standing alone (Jon had gone to talk to Conner, and Colin was carrying Cullen around like he was nothing), approached him. The older boy pointedly raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his drink when the younger stood in front of him. They didn’t say anything for a moment, just.. Staring. Awkwardly.

“I,” Tim stutters. “I wanted to thank you for coming today. It means a lot to your family that you showed up. Even if it was under.. Certain circumstances.” 

“Our.” Damian said into his cup. Tim looked at him shocked, and Damian scoffed. “Our, family. They’re as much yours as mine at this point, Drake. Even if in no way legally.”

“O-oh.” Tim stumbles over his words, scratching the back of his head. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Damian deadpans. Tim looks at the ground.

“So… what’s university like?” He asked hesitantly. The recently-turned-nineteen-year-old fixed him a long suffering look.

“It’s completely pointless for someone of my intellect.” Damian says. “I’d much rather just get it over with and begin my position at father’s company. I’ve been preparing for it since I was eleven, and my roommates and I are in need of income.” Tim looks at him, confused.

“We’re billionaires? And doesn’t Jon have a full time job?”

“I’ve been informed by Jon and Colin that there’s something satisfactory in earning our own income, rather than just continuing to take money given to me.”

“Jon and Colin are really smart.”

“Not as smart as us, but yes. They have their own intellectual appeal.” Damian agrees. Tim smiles.

“I’m happy you have such good friends like them. After you left… The family seemed really worried. But I knew you’d be fine.” Tim says. Damian smirks.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I mean,” He scratches the back of his neck. “I was technically your stalker for about two years. I knew you, Superboy, and Abuse worked really well together. I also knew that you were.. Independent. Not really introverted, you were too blunt and sporadic. But you could be quiet, if you wanted. You’re strong willed, and you have good intentions. I know now, that you aren’t mad at me for becoming Kid Bat.” Damian stares at the younger teen, calculating. 

“Hmm.” Is the intellectual reply Tim receives. 

“You should come around more often, ya know?” Tim tries. “Harper and Cullen really miss you. Not to mention your parents and Alfred.” Damian sighs.

“I know, that I was… cold, when I left.” Damian admits. He looks up, into the sky. “But. I needed it. I still need it. Colin and Jon… they’re really the only ones I have. Even then it’s hard.” Tim shuffles on his feet.

“Well. You got me?” 

“Pardon?” Damian looks back down.

“I mean. We don’t really know each other. Not personally. We could be like, the impartial judges in each others lives. When we feel like we can’t talk to anyone else, and need an outside point of view.” Damian regards Tim with curious eyes.

“You’re an odd boy, Drake.” He decides. “But a wise one.” Tim blushes, and smiles.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

They stand in silence for a while, before Jon and Conner walk over.

“Well if it isn’t my two favourite bats.” Jon says, smiling. Damian rolls his eyes.

“Don’t let Terrence hear you say that.” Jon laughs. 

“What are you two talking about anyway?”

“Nothing you’d be interested in, Corn Cob.” Damian smirks. Jon cuffs the back of his head affectionately. “How are you as of late, Clone?” Damian turns to Conner, who shrugs with no real interest. Tim sighs.

“Are you ever going to not call him Clone?” Tim asks him. Damian shrugs. “He does have a name, you know.”

“Yes, I would hope so.” Damian sighs. Tim shakes his head, but Conner and Jon just laugh, the bastards. They move into a conversation brought on by Conner, about what university and living with each other it like. They talk aimlessly for a few moments, before Colin walks over reminding his friends about his job in the morning. The three oldest agree to leave, but are stopped by Tim grabbing Damian's arm. The group is stock still, as if holding their breath, waiting for the chaos that they assume to ensue. 

“Yes, Drake?” Damian asks softly, shocking the group even further. Tim shifts his jaw.

“You never spoke to Bruce or Selina once.”

“I realize.” Damian nods slowly. Tim huffs. He glares at him pointedly, and Damian curses his father’s ability to teach it so well nonverbally. “Fine. I will say hello to mother before we leave. Lead on, Drake.” Tim smiles, and drags Damian away from their friends, still holding him by the arm. They stop short in front of Selina, who stands with Diana and Dinah. Selina’s eyes widen a fraction, before smirking.

“Hello kitten,” She greets. “Come by for our annual check in?” Damian huffs.

“Mother I saw you last week.” Selina flicks his nose, and Dinah stifles a laugh.

“Shadow saw Catwoman, last week. You, Damian, haven't come to see your mother in nearly a month and a half. You didn’t even answer my call on your birthday.”

“Really?” Diana questions. “A month and a half?” Dinah rolls her eyes.

“Shit, I owe Olli ten. I totally thought you would last another few weeks.” Damian glares at the two.

“I could just leave.” 

“No, stay and talk to your mother.” Diana says, patiently. “We will go check on Hal and make sure he and Barry have not broken anything.” Dinah groans something about babysitting, but follows her friend anyway. Tim and Damian are left with Selina.

“Damian.” Selina says. He nods.

“Mother.”

“See? That isn’t so hard.” Tim shrugs. “Acknowledgment is fun.” The two fix him a look. “Yep. I’m gonna go find Harper. Did you talk to her, by the way?” Damian sighs.

“Drake, she calls me once a week and I’m listed as one of Cullen’s emergencies contacts, I see my sister plenty.” Selina squints. Tim chooses to leave.

“Since when are you listed as one of Cullen’s emergencies contacts?”

“Since I hacked into the school system and made myself one. I did it when I was sixteen. I’ve been called into the school twice in the past four months. Why do you think he’s stayed at mine for little to no reason those few times?” Selina sighed.

“I’d hoped it was simply because you missed your brother. It seems I was wrong. You’re just hiding more things from me.” She says. Damian closes his eyes, taking a deep breath.

“I’m not… hiding things. I’m still going about as normal. I’m just-.”

“Avoiding your father at every chance?” Selina scoffs. “I don’t know how you expect to become the future CEO of the company when you haven’t properly talked to Bruce in a year.”

“I spoke with him at Helena’s birthday party not four months ago.” Damian points out.

“You ended up fighting and broke a vase. Alfred didn’t talk to either of you for a week. You two are even worse when Terry gets involved.” Selina deadpans. Damian hesitates.

“I’m sorry.” He says. “It’s nothing against the rest of you, you know this.”

“I do.” Selina nods, somberly. “I just miss my son.” 

“Listen.” Damian says. “Jon and I need to get Colin home, so he can sleep before work in the morning. Would you like it if we.. met for lunch later this week?” Selina wraps her son in a hug.

“I’d love nothing more, kitten.” Damian hugs his mother back.

“Alright. Message me tomorrow, we’ll figure out a time and place.” Selina nods against her sons neck.

“God, when did you get so much taller than me?” She laughs pulling away. Damian, being almost a full head taller than her, smirks.

“I believe somewhere between fifteen and sixteen.” Selina shakes her head.

“What happened to my little kitten huh?” Damian shrugs. “You should get going. Your boys are staring at you, and I think it’s a race right now over who can pluck up the courage to come get you first; them or your father.” Damian sighs.

“To my friends then.”

They share a final smile.

“I’ll see you later this week?”

“Of course.” Damian kisses his mother’s cheek, before turning away towards his friends. Selina watches him go, and feels the presence of Bruce beside before she hears him.

“How is he?” He asks her. She smirks, turning to him.

“He’s doing just fine Batsy. Hey did you know he’s one of Cullen’s emergency contacts?”

“I had a suspicion.”

“Figures.”

\--

True to their word, Damian and Tim became each others impartial judges. Though they had began to recognize each other as brothers of some sort, they agreed that advice was to be strictly detached, and purely logical. 

It had become something of a gift to the media, when Damian Wayne-Kyle-al Ghul and Timothy Drake-Wayne were spotted spending a gracious amount of time with each other, outside of their siblings. ‘For appearance’s sake.’ Damian would tell Jon and Colin. ‘PR would murder us if the future heirs to their combined fortunes and companies were at odds end everyday.’

It was no longer odd to see Shadow and Kid Bat do team ups. Not strange for Shadow to be found lurking in the corners of the Young Justice headquarters, or for Kid Bat to come crashing into said headquarters after a mission only to be dragged away for a well deserved rest by his terrifying responsible older brother appearing out of the shadows like some vampire seriously Tim control your brother.

What was odd, was for Shadow to come running into their base, in civies and sunglasses and demand to know where Kid Bat was hiding, and what danger he was in. The team blinked at him in fear.

“Uhh Mr. Shadow, sir?” Bart stutters. “Pretty sure KB isn’t here. We certainly haven’t seen him since we got back from our mission, and we’re all fine-.”

“I know he’s here, he told me to come here!” Shadow spits loudly, scaring Bart into tripping over Kon’s feet, and into Cassie’s lap. Milagro, who was only there to visit her younger brother, sighs and steps forward to walk Shadow away.

“Dames, we talked about this you gotta try and not scare the younger heroes.” The Lantern jokes. Damian glares at her behind his sunglasses.

“Don’t patronize me Reyez, I know you would be acting the same as I, if our positions were switched, and you thought Jaime was in danger.” He growls. Milagro drags a hand down her face, over the green mask she adorns and across her jaw. 

“Yeah, alright, I see your point, but you still need to chill out.” She says. “Tim’s probably in his room, I’d check there. I don’t know why he’s hiding from his team, but I remember a certain little gremlin who used to do the exact same thing when he had no answers for hundreds of questions.” Milagro places a hand on her friends shoulder. “I know you guys do that impartial thing, but I think right now Kid Bat needs a brother, not a mentor.”  
Damian closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “I don’t- I’m not good at this Milagro.” She laughs.

“We know. It’s part of your charm, amigo.” Milagro agrees, teasingly. Damian sighs and turns away.

“I’m going to go find Drake. Keep the children in line.” He says. Milagro laughs, before levitating away and leaving Damian to himself. He waits a moment, before turning and heading towards Tim’s room. He moves quickly, only stilling when he reaches his destination.

He knocks on the door hesitantly. “Drake,” Damian speaks softer than he normally would. “It’s Damian.” He chooses to take the vague mumbling he hears as acceptance to enter.

Tim lays on his bed staring at the wall opposite his door. The dark-washed Kid Bat costume is still on, aside from his mask, and his cape is wrapped around the top half of his body. Damian sighs at the absolutely pathetic energy drenching the room. The older boy locks the door so they won’t be disturbed, and makes his way over to the bed.

“May I sit?” Damian asks Tim. The teen shrugs vaguely, and Damian sighs again, taking his seat. “Sit up.”

“No.” Tim mumbles.

“Sit up, Drake, before I drag your bony ass up here.” He commands. Tim, ever the obedient soldier, complies and flops his body into an upwards position, and allows Damian to passive-aggressively drag him to lean against the headboard.

“Now,” Damian says. “Why did you call me here in such a panic? I thought you were in serious danger, I was prepared to actually call father and tell him he was being terrible again.” Tim forces a soft laugh, and Damian smiles.

“Sorry I was just… this mission was harder for some reason.” Tim admits.

“How so?” Damian asks curiously. Tim wraps his cape around himself again.

“The guy we were up against, I don't know how but he had kryptonite bullets.” Tim explains. “No one thinks it was so bad anymore, because Bart got to it before Kon could get hurt, and we were all okay but…”

“But he could have been seriously injured.” Damian hums. Tim nods.

“Drake. You know that sometimes people in our line of work get hurt. It's one of the first things you're told. I told you-.” 

“I know that.” Tim snaps. “I know we get hurt, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I don't ever want Kon- anyone hurt.”

“I know,” Damian says calmly. “I know how you feel, Drake. You think I like that sometimes we go against people that have the power to hurt our family? Our friends? Team?” 

“It's different.” Tim says. 

“How?”

“It just is!”

“Drake so help me God-.”

“I love him!” Tim whines. Damian blinks. “I hate seeing the guy I like so much, my best friend, my most favourite person, go from being one of the most invincible members of our team, to being absolutely mortal, vulnerable. Superboy doesn't get hurt, but Kon-el can if they have the right tools.”

“I see.” Damian says. Tim flushes, looking away from the older boy. “Drake… Timothy, have you told anyone this?” Tim scoffs.

“Of course not. I'm Tim Drake-Wayne. I'm the heir to one of the most famous men in Gotham, his company, his fortune, legacy. On top of that, after… my parents died, I became Bruce Wayne's ward, another famous man of Gotham. I will always be in the spotlight. As Kid Bat, the whole superhero community is looking at me, both as another batkid and now as a leader of my own team. No other sidekick has done a team before, Damian. You older sidekicks did team ups, and you're all friends or whatever, but… I put together a team. People will always ask questions and I will never have answers.” Tim feels tears welling up in his eyes, and wipes them away viciously. “And I can't just pull this. I'm not supposed to be emotional, I'm not even supposed to be considered as anything other than a leader, a boy-billionaire. I don't know how to be anything else.”

“Yes you do.” Damian says softly. Tim looks at him in confusion and Damian sighs for the umpteenth time. “You're more than what the media wants you to be, Timothy. Look at Terrence. He’s had more issues than any of us. My brother is more than the ‘gorgeous, first-born, most-eligible-bachelor’ son. He's also an illegitimate heir, and it’s all Vicki Vale talked about for years. As Nightwing he gets even more slack. He's reckless and needs to mind himself, and let’s not forget the fact that he was never taken seriously, not until he was much older. He and Helena started so young compared to the rest of us, that it wasn't until he was twenty that the Justice League took him seriously enough to convince Batman to stop tailing him everywhere.”

“I didn't know that.” Tim says softly. Damian laughs, good naturedly.

“Of course you wouldn't. Because it doesn't matter to him anymore, and he's never let it get to him. So no one talks about it, they know he's better than that.” Damian nudges Tim's shoulder. “They know you're better than that too.”

“But, but what if they don’t.” Tim stutters. “What if maybe they just think that now, but when I actually try and become something they don’t want, become an actual human in their eyes, a person with emotion, they’ll care enough to question everything I’ve ever known.” 

“Is this… is this what you think of yourself?” Damian questions. “That you’re just some pawn in our game, that we wouldn’t care for you if you were anything other than our child soldier?” He stares into Tim’s soul, begging for an answer.

“I don’t… I don’t know. Maybe.” Tim shrugs quietly. Damian falls silent, staring at this impossibly small-for-his-age teen, whom he’d grown to care for so much. He places a hand on Tim's shoulder, gently.

“Timothy.” Damian says. Tim meets his eyes. “Please know, that no one thinks of you that way. If anything, anyone, ever hurts you like this, don't ever hesitate to call for me. I will not stand by and let you be damaged so much, for such an incompetent reason. You're more than you realize, Timothy Drake-Wayne.”

Tim smiles, and Damian gives him a small smile in return.

“Now,” Damian changes topic. “Tell me more about this crush on the Clone so I know exactly how much kryptonite to inject him with.”

“Damian!”

\---

In the following months, their topic of conversation wasn't brought up again. Tim made it very clear to the older boy that their talks were rather… important, to him, and that if Damian were to ever tell anyone of their meetings, he’d ‘probably kill himself then and there’.

So, of course, Damian never explained to anyone why he and his father's ward would meet in secret so many times a month. Even Terry and Helena had been ‘exiled’, as they put it, from this small secret in his life.

(Probably the only people that really knew about the arrangement were Jon, Colin, and Kon, but those were for obvious reasons)

In fact, no one ever truly found out why it was Tim and Damian met up so often. They'd never bothered to ask, and they certainly wouldn't have gotten an answer.

After a while, people stopped stopped caring.

By that point, they were too busy caring about why Tim went missing, or why even Damian didn't know where he was.

Too busy being scared out of their minds for two months, searching endlessly with no results.

Too busy finding him, and agonizing over how broken he was.

No one asked because there wasn't a point anymore. 

No one asked when Damian moved back into the manor, or when Jon and Colin stopped coming by. No one asked when Shadow was taken off the streets for three weeks, because he’d nearly killed someone, or when Batman came close to doing the same.

And in the weeks, months, no one asked when exactly it was Damian seemed to break, but there was no denying that it happened.

**Author's Note:**

> yall knew what was gonna happen but go off i guess


End file.
